This is the earliest surviving rent roll to show acreages and the year 1772 coincided with Lord Fauconberg’s decision to raise the rents which like those in nearby Rievaulx also show variations when the figures are calculated in terms of rent per acre indicating that land on some farms was thought to be more productive than others.
Thomas and William Rowland had progressed from having a small farm to having the largest one which was King’s Spring House. Thomas Chapman was at Reins Farm, John Holiday had Tile House, Robert Freer was at Ashberry, John Dobson at Caydale and Stephen Backhouse was the landlord at the Board Inn and also farmed 94 acres.
Another four smallholdings amounting to 34 acres were shown and according to these figures the whole estate covered 1,814 acres which is surprising as the Commutation of Tithes Valuation made in 1846 measured 1,808 acres of arable land and 672 acres of meadow and pasture — a total of 2,480 excluding 218 acres of woodland. It is possible that the meadow and pasture were still regarded as common land in 1772 but if so it had been enclosed and tenanted by 1846. It would appear that tenants with cottages in the village were not included on this rent roll.
